


Weren't You Someone's Son?

by AshesStarsAndRedStringsOfFate



Series: Old Black Train (OtGW AU) [6]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Over the Garden Wall Fusion, Angst, Big Bang Challenge, Blood, Body Horror, Gen, Horror, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other, Panic Attacks, death mentions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:14:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26217700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshesStarsAndRedStringsOfFate/pseuds/AshesStarsAndRedStringsOfFate
Summary: It’s been six months since Logan Palmer vanished in the middle of the night without a trace. It’s been six months since Patton last saw his sibling, and his parents are devastated. Patton, however, is pretty sure he knows where Logan is, and is determined to bring him home.Meanwhile, Logan is trying desperately to control his new powers with the help of Roman, the former Beast of the Unknown, and it’s really not going well. Logan’s beginning to become convinced that he’s only going to hurt those he cares about, and so does what he always does: he runs.Will this rag-tag band of found family members finally manage to have a talk about their feelings? Possibly, if only they can all find Logan before it’s too late…
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Thomas Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders & Thomas Sanders, Elliott (Cartoon Therapy) & Logic | Logan Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders & Thomas Sanders
Series: Old Black Train (OtGW AU) [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1505192
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11
Collections: Storytime! 2020





	Weren't You Someone's Son?

**Author's Note:**

> And here it is! I had a lot of fun working on this one, honestly, and this entire AU has been a little bit of a passion project for me! I hope you all like it! 
> 
> Heed the warnings, though!

Soft sunlight spilled across the small town in the middle of nowhere, its warm rays reaching into every nook and cranny and bringing peace and contentment to all who bathed in it. It was the type of sun that appeared as spring turned to summer, as the season of rebirth faded and was replaced with the season of joy. Children were laughing and finishing their playtime as the sun began to set, their mothers calling for them to come inside for dinner. Cheer seemed to permeate the very air around every house. 

Well. All except for the one at the end of the way. 

The Palmer-Whelan house had been devoid of true joy since New Year’s Day, the day that Arthur Palmer woke to discover his eldest son missing. Logan had been acting strange for the preceding week, but Arthur had thought nothing of it until later. He had known, deep down, that something was terribly wrong when Logan had started wanting to spend time with him while he worked on his latest historical recreation, a pastime that Logan had always proclaimed as boring, but he had just been too happy that his son seemed to finally be healing from the trauma he’d sustained on Halloween to question if something was the matter. The letters Logan had left behind on his bed, each addressed to someone important in his life, had concerned Arthur even more. Logan clearly hadn’t wanted to leave, but had felt it was for the best, and because no one had looked closer earlier, Arthur had lost his son. Search parties had turned up nothing, and so the Palmer-Whelans were left, grieving for their eldest child while attempting to still care for their youngest. 

Patton Whelan, however, was not content to simply sit around and mope over his missing sibling. He knew where Logan had gone, even if he wasn’t quite sure why, and he was determined to get back to the Unknown and drag Logan back with him, not only to stop their parents from being sad, but also because Patton missed him. Remy agreed with Patton, but every time Patton tried to bring it up to his parents, they dismissed him. “Logan’s not in the Unknown, sweetie, because the Unknown doesn’t exist,” they’d say, leaving Patton frustrated and with no one to help him plan how to get his brother back. 

“Why not just go yourself? You got there last time from the pond by the cemetery, what’s to say you can’t do that again?” Remy simply asked every time. At first, Patton had insisted that Arthur should come with him because Logan was more likely to listen to his dad, but over time, that excuse became weaker and weaker. 

And so, life continued in the Palmer-Whelan house. Arthur worked monotonously on his sewing projects, his former excitement diminished. He managed to put on a front for the viewers of his YouTube channel, but even they could tell that he was grieving and did all they could to offer support in the comments. Alfred went to teach every week day, stopped at the store to grab a few ingredients, and then came home to cook dinner. All other social activity had ceased for him. He seemingly hadn’t the heart to try and open up to others over his grief. Patton watched all of this, and finally, mid April, he snapped. He couldn’t stand seeing his parents like this anymore, and with that determination in his heart, he packed a backpack of essentials with Remy’s help, wrote a note explaining where he was going, and left in the middle of the night. He’d get Logan back if it was the last thing he’d do. Finding Logan would fix everything, he knew. So what if the Unknown was a bit scary? The happiness of his parents was more important. 

* * *

“Goddamnit! Why isn’t this working?” Logan tugged at his hair in frustration, glaring at the patch of dirt that refused to sprout flowers. He had been trying for at least an hour at this point, and absolutely nothing had happened. He had been trying to get his powers under control ever since he had arrived in the Unknown again, and nothing seemed to be working. 

“Have you tried taking a deep breath and doing it calmly?” the most irritatingly smooth voice Logan had ever heard came from behind him. Logan took a sharp inhale in through his nose before spinning around to face the reason he was in this mess in the first place, one Roman Guthrie, former Beast of the Unknown. His green eyes were sparkling with barely concealed mirth, and the small smirk on his lips made Logan want to absolutely strangle him by any means. 

“Yes, I  _ have _ , and nothing happened,” Logan snapped, crossing his arms under his cloak. “If you do not have actual advice to offer, please leave.” 

Roman sighed and sat down on a nearby stump, flicking a small piece of his bangs out of his eyes. “I really do wish I could help you more, kid. Not being able to remember much of that time is really screwing you over, and I’m sorry that I haven’t been as supportive as I could be.” 

“I don’t need your apologies.” Logan turned his back to Roman and went back to concentrating on the small patch of earth where a lavender seed nestled. He could feel the plant the seed would become, how it whispered soothing songs to him, but he could not, for the life of him, figure out how to make said seed grow. The soil was perfect for lavender to grow in, just a bit dry and crumbly, and there was plenty of room for the roots to grow, yet nothing had happened. Logan was beginning to think that the plants of the Unknown hated him. 

He heard Roman let out another sigh before he stood up and left, leaving Logan alone with the stubborn seed once again. A small twinge of guilt over dismissing Roman was quickly squashed in favor of concentration. Logan would deal with his emotions later. For now, he needed to figure out why his powers never worked the way he wanted them to before he ended up hurting someone. 

Three hours later, he’d made absolutely no progress. The seed remained a seed, the grass had grown a bit more in Logan’s frustration, and the trees had begun to bend toward him in an attempt to offer comfort. With a groan, Logan sat down on the ground and ran a hand through his messy hair, wincing as he brushed the sensitive base of his antlers. 

“It’s been four hours, Logan. Come inside. I made tea, and Thomas is making dinner,” Ethan’s voice called from just behind him. Logan made no move to stand up, still staring sulkily at the patch of ground he’d been staring at through this entire pointless exercise. Ethan sighed and moved forward, crouching beside Logan and placing a hand on his shoulder in a silent show of support. “There’s always tomorrow.” 

“Nothing is going to change tomorrow,” Logan muttered. “It has been four months, Ethan, and I can still barely control my abilities. It’s only a matter of time before I harm someone with them.” 

“And we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, won’t we?” Ethan answered. “You’re clearly trying not to hurt anyone, which is more than I can say for… your predecessor.” 

“He’s no help at all,” Logan agreed. Ethan let out a short laugh at that before the two fell into mutual silence, staring at a small patch of earth for entirely different reasons, one in frustration and one in contemplation. 

“Why don’t you come in? I know I always work better with food in my stomach,” Ethan finally suggested, pushing himself to his feet and wincing as his joints creaked in protest. Logan slowly stood as well, brushing the dirt off of his cloak and pants as he did so, before following Ethan into the warm house. Roman was already sitting at the table, a piece of bread shoved into his mouth while Thomas laughed at him nearby. Logan let out a small grin at the scene and went to wash his hands in the basin before sitting at the table for dinner. Ethan poured all four of them a cup of tea each before sitting down himself. 

The house was filled with warmth and cheer as the four chattered about mundane topics. No one brought up Logan’s attempts to understand his powers, something which he was pathetically grateful for. It had taken them a while to all be comfortable around each other- after all, Roman had hurt Logan, Ethan, and Thomas in some way, and forgiveness was not an easy thing to give to the former Beast. And yes, while Ethan still jumped from time to time when Roman appeared with his soft footsteps, and Logan still refused to talk to Roman about what had happened on Halloween, the four had a comfortable balance built through months of work. 

After dinner, Thomas presented a cake he’d tried to make. It looked absolutely horrid, yet no one minded, for it tasted absolutely amazing. Laughter filled the small cabin as the cake was finished, more tea was brewed and distributed, and, one by one, each member of the household turned in for the night. As the last candle was snuffed, a peace fell over the cabin which had held naught but doom and anxiety for years before. 

Outside this cabin, in a small patch of sandy soil, the moon fell upon the ground. In the light of the moon, if any had been around to witness, they would have seen a small shoot poke up from the ground before growing far quicker than a plant has any right to. The stalks would shoot skyward as the roots spread through the soil and flowers bloomed under the soft light of the moon. This small lavender plant sang of its birth to the forests of the Unknown, telling of the Caretaker who had encouraged it to grow and live. The forest of the Unknown called back, welcoming this lavender into its fold in the peace of the night. The forest settled, whispering tranquility into the darkness, waiting for its Caretaker to awaken the next morn and bring the forest back to life once again. 


End file.
